Since Chicago Bob says his pizza is based on this one, I thought I'd start with "Pizza Zero" and give this a shot. I goofed up a little though, I started with a high oven temp 550į (to compensate for heat lost when opening the oven door, I'm not using a stone during the summer) with the intention on turning it down to 475 when launching the pizza but I forgot about that for about 5 minutes and then turned it down to 450. Ah well, here's how it turned out.

It was really good for a same day pizza. Obviously, the crust lacked the flavor that a 2 or 3 day ferment would provide. But sometimes the belly wants what the belly wants...RIGHT NOW!I baked it in a 12-inch cutter pan. I'm a big fan of this pan. I'm going to have to buy a larger one for dinner guests.

I forgot to mention that I'm now using Ultragrain AP flour for everything now. So far it's working great.

I'll have to look for that flour. What's it like to work with? DMC has me hooked on Adirondack AP--I just got into another 25 lb. sack of that and shhh, but I just got back from the Amish market with 50 lbs. of Occident and a boatload of cheese. Thankfully the husband is out of town. As long as I have it nicely stored away he'll have no idea, but will be happily eating pizza this weekend.

I'll have to look for that flour. What's it like to work with? DMC has me hooked on Adirondack AP--I just got into another 25 lb. sack of that and shhh, but I just got back from the Amish market with 50 lbs. of Occident and a boatload of cheese. Thankfully the husband is out of town. As long as I have it nicely stored away he'll have no idea, but will be happily eating pizza this weekend.

I only got it (2-10# bags bundled together at Costco for 7 bucks and change) a couple of weeks ago and when the weather heats up I make fewer pizzas indoors. The last two thin crust pizzas turned out really well using UG. Other than that I've little experience with it so far but tomorrow is going to be cool so I'm doing a Chicago Deep Dish using Ultragrain. I'll be using a recipe that I used before I found this site so I can more accurately determine any differences from the KAAP I used before. At least the UG is cheap enough that I'll have no qualms about getting rid of it if I don't like it. The next time I visit Ohio's Amish country I'll be peering like a meerkat for Occident.I hope you didn't read that as, "peeing like a meerkat."

. . . I baked it in a 12-inch cutter pan. I'm a big fan of this pan. I'm going to have to buy a larger one for dinner guests.

I am a big, big fan of cutter pans, too, and generally always make my Chicago style thin crust pizzas on a 14" cutter pan, which I think is the most useful size. One can make a 12" or 10" or any size 14" and below with the one pan. Be cautious about bigger sizes as surprisingly many home ovens have problems fitting a 16" or 18" size.

A good cutter pan to me produces the same quality bake in a Chicago thin crust in that it closely duplicates the bake effect of the great old deck ovens with which Chicago thin crust pizzas became famous. Below is a pix of my nonperforated 14" cutter pan with PSTK. Boo on the inferior modern conveyor ovens. They, like the junky, modern chain pizzerias have almost destroyed the great, great old-fashion mom and pop pizzerias across the country that we fell in love with in earlier times in our lives.

Jay, one additional suggestion that I thought of and if I can make . . . on the edge of the pizza dough in the cutter pan is to follow my "press, pinch and crimp" procedure and do so on the edge of the pizza dough in the pan before baking. This may not sound like much, but I dare others to try it and tell me it doesn't do something good to really help in the total tasting experience of Chicago style thin crust (or even deep dish) pizza eating.

The partial pizza pictured below was from Villa Nova's pizzeria in Chicago, but kind of gets to what I strive for, which is a rough, irregular, "moonscape", pinched appearing edges. May sound screwy, but it is very helpful in the total taste experience (at least the treasured "outside pizza pieces). In any event, suggest to others to at least just try this seemingly minor step and see if it delights and pleases your and your's taste buds more than others.

Jay, one additional suggestion that I thought of and if I can make . . . on the edge of the pizza dough in the cutter pan is to follow my "press, pinch and crimp" procedure and do so on the edge of the pizza dough in the pan before baking. This may not sound like much, but I dare others to try it and tell me it doesn't do something good to really help in the total tasting experience of Chicago style thin crust (or even deep dish) pizza eating.

The partial pizza pictured below was from Villa Nova's pizzeria in Chicago, but kind of gets to what I strive for, which is a rough, irregular, "moonscape", pinched appearing edges. May sound screwy, but it is very helpful in the total taste experience (at least the treasured "outside pizza pieces). In any event, suggest to others to at least just try this seemingly minor step and see if it delights and pleases your and your's taste buds more than others.

--BTB

BTB,Thanks for the advice, I'll definitely give it a try the next time I make a Chicago thin crust. Anything to duplicate this wonderful type of pizza. There's a theory that the first type of pizza you have as a child is your favorite for life. (Pity the child weaned on Little Caesars!) My first pizza was from the only restaurant in Toledo that makes a Chicago thin crust type pie. That may be why I love this type so much. Or it just could be that it tastes like heaven on a plate.My 12-inch cutter pan is exactly the same type as your 14-inch pan. Iím only making pizza for two and figured it'd be less wasteful while experimenting with different recipes until I found what I was looking for. Thanks for all your work here. I can't believe how crappy the pizza was that I was making before I found this site.

BTB,Thanks for the advice, I'll definitely give it a try the next time I make a Chicago thin crust. Anything to duplicate this wonderful type of pizza. There's a theory that the first type of pizza you have as a child is your favorite for life. (Pity the child weaned on Little Caesars!) My first pizza was from the only restaurant in Toledo that makes a Chicago thin crust type pie. That may be why I love this type so much. Or it just could be that it tastes like heaven on a plate.My 12-inch cutter pan is exactly the same type as your 14-inch pan. Iím only making pizza for two and figured it'd be less wasteful while experimenting with different recipes until I found what I was looking for. Thanks for all your work here. I can't believe how crappy the pizza was that I was making before I found this site.

There's a theory that the first type of pizza you have as a child is your favorite for life. (Pity the child weaned on Little Caesars!)

I've never fully bought into the "pizza cognition theory," because it relies on the first pizza one has. No one is a foodie at age 3. If the theory would rather state that the kind (or style?) of pizza one grows up on is one's favorite for life, I can buy that. But the idea that a baby eats Shakey's once and that remains ur-pizza is silly.

Well, it is a theory, not a law. I was 9 or 10 when I had my first pizza and it was a very good one from the only place in town that made a Chicago thin crust style. It is hard to believe that if my first pizza was Domino's that I would be drooling over one today.

OK, 7.5 but that's it! You jus never know my friend......might be to your liking.

I'll give it a shot, although when I said I figured a 13" dough for my 12" cutter pan, I also rolled it out as thin as I could before dropping it in the pan. I think the thinnest so far was for Garvey's clone. I do have to remember though, to restrain myself when adding toppings to a very thin crust.

Jay, one additional suggestion that I thought of and if I can make . . . on the edge of the pizza dough in the cutter pan is to follow my "press, pinch and crimp" procedure and do so on the edge of the pizza dough in the pan before baking. This may not sound like much, but I dare others to try it and tell me it doesn't do something good to really help in the total tasting experience of Chicago style thin crust (or even deep dish) pizza eating.

The partial pizza pictured below was from Villa Nova's pizzeria in Chicago, but kind of gets to what I strive for, which is a rough, irregular, "moonscape", pinched appearing edges. May sound screwy, but it is very helpful in the total taste experience (at least the treasured "outside pizza pieces). In any event, suggest to others to at least just try this seemingly minor step and see if it delights and pleases your and your's taste buds more than others.